From Cover, issue no. 347, December 24, 2007
Translated by Ren Jie
Original article: [Chinese]

The EO has learned that the 2008 Central Dossier No.1 – the policy priority guideline document issued yearly by the Chinese government – is likely to focus on agricultural issues.

What goes into the dossier will form the core discussions at the soon-to-be-held annual Central Rural Work Conference. The dossier is expected to highlight the "three agriculture problems", namely problems face by the agricultural industry as a whole, agricultural villages and farmers.

It is likely to be the 10^th such dossier focusing on agricultural issues since the introduction of reform and opening up policy 30 years ago. The interests of 900 million farmers in China will be impacted.

Indicators of Possible Concerns

Consistent with previous years' practices, the dossier draftee team comprises of members from the Central Economy Leadership Group, the Central Rural Work Leadership Group, the Central Policy Research Office, the State Council's Development Research Center, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Treasury, and the Labor and Social Security Ministry.

Unlike last year, officers from local-level agriculture bureaus were not invited. Inside sources say that grassroots opinions are related through other channels. Apparently, several field research projects conducted by the National Development and Reform Commission in Hebei and Guizhou in October were part of the drafting exercise.

The field researchers had reportedly visited many local leaders, towns and villages to sample opinions, indicating the likelihood that poverty alleviation and rural development be highlighted in the 2008 dossier.

Other evidence includes the hectic touring schedule of Hui Liangyu, the deputy director in charge of agriculture, in the past months. Among the provinces Hui visited include Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, inner Mongolia, Sichuan, and Guizhou. By summing up his visits' itineraries and important speeches made, one can roughly sketch the outline of possible concerns in the upcoming dossier.